Friday, January 20, 2012

Down With the Trumpets - Rizzle Kicks

I saw this song pretty high on an end-of-year best singles list from 2011 and have been enjoying its old-school youthful charm since. I just started researching this very young band and they have a neat story...

Rizzle Kicks is comprised of (children) Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens & Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule from Brighton, UK. The two were born in North London and met at the age of four when they became friends. They lost track of each other over the years and both independently moved to Brighton. Through a "series of coincidences," the guys re-connected at age eleven facing off in a Sunday league football match. They ended up going to the same school where Jordan was creating mixtapes, rapping over his favorite pop hip-hop samples. He asked Harley to sing over them with him, and Rizzle Kicks was born.

The young duo started obtaining beats from local producers and recording demos, then creating low-budget videos for their tracks, uploading them to their website which they cultivated into a strong online presence. Some old-school hip-hop inspired tracks caught the attention of Island Records, where they were subsequently signed. Their debut album came out last October with production work from Ant Whiting, The Rural, Mike Spencer, and Norman Cook (AKA Fatboy Slim.)

I've been really loving "Down With the Trumpets" and just this AM got their full debut, "Stereo Typical" giving it a half listen. It's certainly a pop album, but I quite like this duo's flow... mixing an old-school vibe with playful lyricism. They mix hip-hop and reggae with a pretty deft pop sensibility. Need more time with the album, but check out "Down With the Trumpets." Fun.